Sawt Falasteen - Daddy issues? NATO's Rutte sticks to charm to keep Trump on side

The move, designed to highlight how Europe is ramping up defence spending under pressure from Trump, was the latest leg of Rutte's relentless charm offensive to keep the mercurial US leader on board through a rollercoaster of crises.

"I just wanted to tell this story because, ladies and gentlemen of the American media, this is important," Rutte told journalists in the Oval Office as Trump looked on approvingly.

"This is your president, but also the leader of the free world, taking the leadership role as is necessary."

Trump responded with warm words of his own for the man seated next to him.

"He's a great guy, a great leader, great secretary general," he said. "I think if anybody else were in that position, we wouldn't even be meeting today."

Some 18 months into his second term, Trump has had falling-outs with a string of European counterparts from Germany's Friedrich Merz to Italy's Giorgia Meloni.

But as leaders on the continent have increasingly started standing up to the US president -- Rutte, picked for the role thanks to his reputation as a "Trump whisperer", has stuck to a strategy of flattery to keep him onside.

"Rutte is one of the last men standing in Europe who still has a relationship with Trump," former senior NATO official Jamie Shea, now with Chatham House think tank, told AFP.

"People around Rutte say, you know, he has to do this... because for NATO, at the moment, the stakes are so high."

- Crisis after crisis -

A year ago at a summit in The Hague, the alliance head scored a major victory by convincing leaders to agree to Trump's demand to commit to five percent of GDP to defence-related spending.

In a headline-grabbing moment that Trump seized on with glee, Rutte at the event went so far as to liken him to a "daddy" over the way he handled Iran and Israel.

But if NATO officials hoped that success in The Hague meant they were out of the woods, they proved to be mistaken -- and Rutte would need all his diplomatic nous to keep NATO on an even keel.

Just a few months later Trump started insisting the United States needed the vast Arctic island of Greenland, an autonomous part of NATO member Denmark.

The demands -- and previously unthinkable idea that the United States might actually seize an ally's territory -- rocked NATO to its core.

Once again Rutte stepped in to talk Trump down, getting him to back off with a compromise that kicked the issue down the road.

But the crises didn't end there.

When European leaders failed to back his attack on Iran -- restricting access to US bases on their territories -- Trump lashed out yet again at a favourite target: NATO.

He questioned why he should protect Europe if it didn't stand with him, and even floated the possibility of pulling out of the alliance.

Once again Rutte stepped in -- jetting to Washington to see Trump. This time his charm didn't work so well, with diplomats reporting a difficult meeting.

Nonetheless Trump toned down his threatening language.

- 'Diminishing returns' -

Known for his indefatigable bonhomie and upbeat mood, Rutte remains much appreciated behind the scenes at NATO.

Officials say he lacks the ego of other top politicians and, as he isn't currently eyeing elected office, does whatever is needed to play nice for Trump.

"Rutte is very much cut out for the job and we're very lucky to have him," one European diplomat told AFP.

"He is doing what he can, although even that has its limits."

While there is hope that Rutte's tactics will pay off again in Ankara -- among some there is a sense that it's just a sticking plaster solution.

"There's the law of diminishing returns," Shea said. "You get less and less every time."

Despite Rutte's efforts, the United States is inexorably stepping back from NATO and Europe under Trump.

As he focuses on the US leader, some warn that Rutte risks missing out on broader discussions over how European security will look in the future.

The NATO chief sparked ire by telling Europe it could "keep on dreaming" if it thought it could defend itself without American forces.

"He's resisting that entirely, but because he's resisting it, he's not part of that particular debate in terms of developing new ideas," Shea said.

T.Khatib--SF-PST